Saturday, March 19, 2011
Friday, March 18, 2011
Cher Working On Country Album Release
“Cher knows that her listeners also listen to country music, so she felt it was a natural thing to develop a country music relationship.”Cher already has a couple of country connections. In 1979 her song “It’s Too Late To Love Me Now” peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard Top Country Singles chart. Her co-star in the recent film, Burlesque, was country artist Julianne Hough. Cher was also a presenter at last year’s ACM Awards.
The album would be the first solo effort from Cher since 2001's Living Proof.
Trent Tomlinson Close To Signing New Record Deal With Skyville Records
He has been using his Twitter page as a news feed for his fans and sending out tweets to keep them up on the process.
“Big meeting tomorrow in Nashville at 10am!!” Tomlinson tweeted Wednesday night.
“Had a great meeting!!” he tweeted yesterday. “Thanks to Paul Worley and Wally Wilson for giving me the opportunity to be the next artist on Skyville Records! And also Kevin Herring for making it all possible!”
Tomlinson released one album for Disney's Lyric Street Records that spawned three hit singles and released three additional singles off of a never-released album before Lyric Street closed.
Country Music Hall Of Famer Ferlin Husky Passes
The 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee died at his home, said Country Music Hall of Fame spokeswoman Tina Wright. He had a history of heart problems and related ailments.
With his resonant voice and good looks, Husky was one of the most versatile entertainers to emerge from country music. He was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor and even a comedian whose impersonations ranged from Bing Crosby to Johnny Cash.
He was one of the first country musicians to bring the genre to television and helped spread its popularity in booming post-World War II California, an important step in country's quest for a national audience.
He said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press that he was buoyed by his Hall of Fame induction because he worried he'd been forgotten as his health failed over the years.
"The main thing I'm proud of, this is for my family and for the many people who want to see me go in there before I die," he said. "It's a great honor."
Husky, who was one of the first country artists to have his name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, sold more than 20 million records, mostly in the '50s and early '60s, according to his website. He won many country music awards long before such gala shows were televised and meant so much to careers.
He was born in 1925 near Flat River, Mo. After five years in the Merchant Marines during World War II, he began his singing career in honky-tonks and nightclubs around St. Louis and later in the Bakersfield, Calif., area.
"I'd walk into a bar and if they didn't have any music there, I'd ask the bartender if I could play. Then I'd pass the hat around," he told the Chicago Tribune in 1957.
He recalled he could count on netting 50 or 75 cents. He recorded some songs early in his career under the name Terry Preston, and in some early records he spelled his last name Huskey. Signed to Capitol records in the early 1950s, he had his first big success when he teamed with 2011 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee Jean Shepard on "Dear John Letter," which ranked No. 4 on Billboard's list of top country songs of 1953. He was also the headline act for a tour that included a young Elvis Presley.
"He was so eager to learn how to entertain an audience, he'd watch everything I did," Husky said.
In 1957, he had a No. 1 hit on the country chart with "Gone," a re-recording of a song he had done several years earlier. It also broke the top five on the pop charts. "Wings of a Dove," a gospel song, became another No. 1 country hit in 1960 and was one of his signature songs. His other hits included "A Fallen Star," "My Reason for Living," "The Waltz You Saved for Me" and "Timber, I'm Falling."
"I didn't say it was country, but it was a country boy doing it," he said in 2010.
While still recording under his real name, Husky created a character named Simon Crum as his comic alter ego, hitting the charts with such songs as "Cuzz You're So Sweet" and "Country Music Is Here to Stay." He also was a regular on TV and appeared in a string of movies with co-stars like Zsa Zsa Gabor ("Country Music Holiday" in 1958) and Jayne Mansfield ("Las Vegas Hillbillies" in 1966.) He once said that his selection for a short run as Arthur Godfrey's summer replacement at CBS in the late 1950s was a particular high point for him.
"It was a great achievement because there were so many actors and artists, but I got picked even though I didn't have a high school education," he told The Associated Press in 1981. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade.
He cut back on his entertaining in 1970 and performed part time, mostly concert dates. He was performing once a month in the mid-2000s. But his imprint on country music remained.
"In the mid-'50s, Ferlin would create the template for the famed Nashville Sound, a sound that gave rock 'n' roll a run for its money and forever put Music City on the map," Kyle Young, director of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, said at Husky's induction in May 2010. "The multitalented and musically versatile Ferlin Husky was always ahead of his time."
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Hall & Oates' John Oates Releasing Americana Album Mississippi Mile April 12
“This album is about honoring the tradition of the song itself,” Oates explains. “I wanted to go back to the songs that really shaped me when I was growing up. I wouldn’t be the musician that I am today without these songs. It’s a stripped-down effort to showcase what the song was before it ever made it on the record and became a hit. The music you hear on Mississippi Mile is as close to a live album as it gets.”The tracks on Mississippi Mile directly capture what Oates and the musicians played on the first take in the studio, with the exception of only two overdubs, giving the record a live album feel. The strong group of musicians--which include renowned performers such as Bekka Bramlett, Sam Bush, Jerry Douglas and co-producer Mike Henderson, to name a few--help Mississippi Mile reach a diverse level of sound unlike any other record to date.
The 12-track album chronicles Oates’ musical inspirations from Curtis Mayfield’s “It’s Allright” to Allen Fraser’s “Dance Hall Girls” and even the Hall & Oates classic “You Make My Dreams Come True,” all intertwining elements of Oates’ authentic roots sound. “Deep River” was penned by Oates about the Nashville flood, while paying homage to Doc Watson’s “Deep River Blues.” The album’s title-track is the other Oates original song, kicking-off the album with reverence to his strong respect for classic American music.
“’Mississippi Mile’ is about the music that comes from the heart of the Delta,” Oates said. “There’s something very unique and important about the music that comes that geographic area that has become the foundation of all American popular music. This song is one of those songs that can be stripped away from the entire record and still stand on its own.”Track Listing for Mississippi Mile:
1. Mississippi Mile
2. Let It Rock
3. It’s Alright
4. Send Me Someone to Love
5. All Shook Up
6. Pallet
7. Searchin’
8. Come Back Baby
9. Deep River
10. He Was A Friend of Mine
11. You Make My Dreams Come True
12. Dance Hall Girls
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
That Nashville SoundBites- Tiffany- Rose Tattoo
The Review:
Yep. That Tiffany. Known primarily from her 80's pop smash "I Think We're Alone Now" and more recently for her role in the campy Syfy channel original movie Mega Python Vs Gateroid which also started eighties pop star Deborah Gibson, Tiffany's eighth album is her first foray into country music. Her 2000 album The Color of Silence was critically lauded and its obvious now on Rose Tattoo that she is continuing her evolution as an artist. The album is produced by One Flew South's Chris Roberts and he brings an array of styles and sounds on the album. Rose Tattoo opens with three very rocking country tracks, the best being "Crazy Girls," a duet with longtime Tootsie's Orchid Lounge (in Nashville) fixture and singer-songwriter Lindsay Lawler. Their interplay makes for a fun "Thelma and Louise" storyline and the movie even gets a shout-out in the chorus. Underrated in Nashville as an outstanding songwriter, Roberts co-penned the other two outstanding tracks on the album. "He's All Man" allows Tiffany to show off her range, emotion and voice and the "church revival" bridge is a great touch. "Just That Girl" is the strongest track on the album as it allows Tiffany the opportunity to be introspective and tell some details about herself. Self-depreciating, she talks about spilled coffee, broken heels and falling flat on her face. And if there's a criticism about the album, it's that there isn't more of that on the album. Pop music and country music are different in that there is much more storytelling and personal revealing in the latter. Tiffany's (mostly) choice of everyman topics of love go down easy, but would have more impact if they told Tiffany's own story in more detail. More protagonist would serve her well.
Sounds Like:
Avril Lavigne's voice with a Jo Dee Messina sound
Stand Out Tracks
Just That Girl
Crazy Girls
He's All Man
The Verdict:
Three stars out of five
Monday, March 14, 2011
"Good Morning Beautiful" Songwriter Todd Cerney Passes Away
He has had songs recorded by Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bad English, Eddie Money, Cheap Trick, Loverboy, The Four Tops / Aretha Franklin, Martika, The Cover Girls, Lita Ford, Joy Lynn White, Ty Herndon, The Purify Brothers, Phoebe Snow, Giant, Levon Helm, Jason And The Scorchers, Little Anthony, Bill Medley, Twiggy, John Anderson, Brigette Nielson, David Hasselhof, Sylvia, The Kendalls, and The Whites.
In addition to his songwriting talents, Cerney played mandolin with the Dixie Chicks and sang background vocals on numerous albums, including releases by Kenny Rogers and Levon Helm.
Below is his final performance of Holy's hit song.
Foster & Lloyd Album Scheduled For May 2011 Release- Hear It Here
Founded in 1986, the duo recorded three albums for RCA, in addition to charting nine singles on the Billboard country charts. The highest-peaking of these was their debut single "Crazy Over You", a #4 hit in 1987. After disbanding in 1990, Foster and Lloyd both began solo careers. Foster charted several solo singles of his own and recorded six studio albums. In 2010, the duo announced they were reforming to record a new album. Foster has said the duo has written around 14 songs for the new CD.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
New Music From Brad Paisley- "Old Alabama"- Hear It Here
"Old Alabama (featuring Alabama)" from Brad Paisley's brand new studio album, This Is Country Music - available everywhere May 24, 2011.
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